Level three has begun and with it comes an anxiety level heretofore unknown. This level is the discipline and consistency level, where we rotate through four stations cooking the exact same 16 dishes over and over again. There are strict time limits with only 20 minutes between each dish presentation and I have never seen my classmates so stressed out! I include mysel... Read More

Tomorrow is the final test and practical exam for my Level 2 class. After each level of study (there are 6 at the FCI) students must demonstrate their cumulative knowledge with a written test and their kitchen skills with a practical test. The tests are pretty self explanatory and come straight from the book (with a few exceptions.) The practical, on the other hand te... Read More

I arrived at class yesterday hoping to breeze through this week and into an awesome long weekend filled with barbeques, beer, and fireworks. I thought this was an attainable goal, being that the two classes this week involved cheese and pasta, and how hard could that be, right?  Little did I know how hard it would be on my stomach to ingest 3 different types of milk,... Read More

Just when I thought I was never going to happily ingest another piece of cake again, our pastry section of level two has mercifully ended, and all I have to show for it is a bag of dough in my freezer and a toothache. Well, I suppose I also gleaned some pastry making skills from the lessons, so all was not lost. Last night we had our first nutrition lesson and returne... Read More

During the classic culinary arts program, there are about six lessons involving pastry in Level 2. I’m in that section and pastry is bumming me out. I am so tired of making cremes and doughs and egg foams and meringues. Yesterday it was creme caramel, biscuit for a bavarian creme filled charlotte, creme anglaise, and pastry cream (which we have made at least 6 t... Read More

I often ramble on about my love of all things meaty, but I really tested my limits this past Saturday when I gorged myself on all things ‘Que in hundred degree heat at the Big Apple Barbeque event at Madison Square Park. Some girls at school had told me that the lines were insane and that it wasn’t worth the heat stroke, but I braved the sweat-drenched cro... Read More

I had a question from a commenter about the possibility of attending culinary school while maintaining a vegetarian diet and thought I would address it here. I asked the same question of my chef when even I, callous carnivore that I am, couldn’t stand the thought of ingesting any more animal protein after an arduous class featuring

Level 2 has begun and so far things are moving along nicely. We all enjoyed our Memorial Day and came back refreshed (some maybe hungover?) and ready to tackle the next lesson- Variety Meats. Yum…

Variety Meats or Offal are typically overlooked internal organs of pork, beef, chicken, veal, or duck. Some, like foie gras or sweetbreads are considered a deli... Read More

The chef behind the Momofuku phenomenon, David Chang (an FCI alum), dished on what he thought about his culinary school experience in a little online interview found here. I have heard that Chang had previously been somewhat dismissive of his FCI experience, but he clarifies in the interv... Read More

So, last night we prepared the oft maligned Blanquette de Veau: delicious, tender chunks of veal blanketed in a sauce supreme. Of course we couldn’t get through the lesson without multiple interjections questioning the treatment of the “baby cows”, and an assistant chef even directed the class to check out the PETA website.

I don’t under... Read More